This pagoda, a sacred Buddhist religious place, is believed to enshrine a bone and tooth of Gautama Buddha.

At the outer limits of the pagoda there are 37 nats deified along with an intricately carved wooden sculpture of Thagyamin, the Burmese version of the Indian god Indra.

Within the compound of the Shwezigon Pagoda there is a stone pillar containing Mon language inscriptions dedicated by Kyansittha.

[7][5] The pagoda is a replica of the pyramidal Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, the location of Buddha's illuminating realisation in India.

It is now substantially strengthened with a covering of more than 30,000 copper plates, which were donated by local and international devotees; gilding of the dome has been done during 1983–1984 and again in recent times.

[2] It has features of staircases, gates, and a richly ornamented spire fitted with a large golden umbrella type finial embedded with gems.

[2][4][8] The relics that are believed to be enshrined in the pagoda are Buddha's collar-bone and his frontal bone from Prome, and his tooth from Ceylon.

The interior, though conceived as a solid body, has a maze of interconnected narrow passages, where devotees affix dedicatory slabs on the walls by paying a donation, and praying for special blessings.

At the base of the pagoda there are containers fitted closely and set in series, which have gilded bronze castings of plants and flowers, with alms bowls carved in stone in between.

Around the exterior periphery of the pagoda there are several temples and wooden pavilions decorated with the pyatthat (multi-tiered and spired roofs).

[7] On one of the outer walls surrounding the Shwezigon Pagoda there is a stone pillar with Mon language inscriptions dedicated by King Kyansittha.